Conflicting Reports Emerge on Bayley's Long-Term Future in WWE

Bayley is back, and as many assumed when she appeared on Monday night's episode of WWE Raw in Birmingham, she's going to be sticking around for the long haul. At least according to one outlet.

The Role Model had been missing from WWE programming ever since she lost to Lyra Valkyria at Saturday Night's Main Event back in July. She was choked out inside New York's Madison Square Garden and then dropped onto the steel ring steps with a Nightwing.

Rumors and speculation started bubbling to surface of the internet soon after that suggested Bayley's time in WWE is winding down. Her most recent contract extension, which was signed toward the tail end of 2023, is reportedly due to expire at the end of this year, and she is expected to receive major interest on the free agent market.

Rival promotion All Elite Wrestling, where Bayley's good friend Mercedes Moné is the reigning AEW Women's World Champion, is reportedly very interested in acquiring her services.

Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select had said that Bayley would likely to get a huge offer from Tony Khan's company, and that she would also have a rare opportunity to change how WWE contracts are negotiated, with potential guaranteed years and dollars included in a new extension.

Whether she was simply trolling wrestling fans remains unclear, but Mercedes Moné spent part of her summer fueling the Bayley-to-AEW speculation with her activity on social media. She heavily teased potential dream matches with her former tag team partner in All Elite Wrestling, but those bouts may remain a fantasy for the time being. Then again, maybe not.

Conflicting reports on whether Bayley has re-signed with WWE

BAYLEY TIME 🤌@itsBayleyWWE with PAYBACK on her mind but Lyra Valkyria BARELY escapes!!! pic.twitter.com/jBuDYgsuoP
— WWE (@WWE) September 8, 2026

Lyra Valkyria had the opportunity to qualify for the 2026 Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match on Monday night when she took on Sol Ruca and Maxxine Dupri in a triple threat qualifying match. She had the match won after hitting Dupri with a Nightwing, but Bayley came out of nowhere to pull referee Jessika Carr out of the ring to stop her three count.

The distraction allowed Ruca to hit Valkyria with a Sol Snatcher and win the match. Afterward, Bayley rolled into the ring and starting wailing on Lyra with a series of elbows. She later attempted to give her a powerbomb through the commentary table, but Valkyria was able to escape through the crowd.

WWE fans in Birmingham gave Bayley's arrival a tremendous ovation, and many online took her appearance as a sign that she had agreed to terms to remain with WWE. The Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer is now reporting that to be the case.

Meltzer was able to confirm Bayley's long-term future with WWE during the post-Raw episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, “Yep, signed a new deal.” No other details about the new agreement are known as of this writing.

However, Mike Johnson with PWInsider Elite is now contradicting that report.

"Multiple WWE sources have indicated that there were no conversations about Bayley signing a new deal as she still has lots of time left on her contract. Anyone claiming she signed a new deal as a condition of her return would be 100% wrong.”

Terms of professional wrestling contracts are not public knowledge, for the most part, as they are in most other major sports, so this kind of uncertainty is unfortunately part of the business. We'll keep you updated on any more information that may emerge.

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